Isn’t it wonderful when you can just sound off about any subject or anyone and never be corrected or challenged on anything you say or think. What kind of world would it be if this were the case. Well, in fact most of us do this anyway but we never voice it through fear of being castigated or prosecuted for our sins. I work in the public sector and work with unhealed people; in this environment there is the inevitability of emotions being involved, with clients and colleagues, and so emotional instability is the key to my everyday outlook.

I spoke about this subject a few days ago but it has come to haunt me as there have been difficult situations both at home and work. The public sector itself is not very adept at recognising the importance of vicarious trauma. ; Vicarious trauma is the ability or sense of being traumatized by someone else difficult situation. So you may have heard someone talking about losing a loved one, and hearing about the trauma triggers something in you, and you then begin to feel upset or affected in some way. This is an absolute as everyone feels something in these situations, however there are those that deal with this more appropriately than others.

Just as a quick aside what is appropriate to one may well not be appropriate to the public body we represent and some people out of their own unexplored vicarious trauma will state quite publicly that the way another person is dealing with the trauma is deemed to be politically incorrect. In my opinion it is perfectly fine dealing with it any way that makes it less painful because ultimately this is not your trauma to carry. So having an office that speaks openly about a client and their problems in a rather dark humoured way is in fact dealing with it, which is more than can be said about the person complaining. I have worked in an office where people were threatened with discipline for displaying ; a seemingly flippant attitude towards their clients. We are not made to carry such burdens.

I fully believe in the process of clinical supervision and even at its most diluted level it is helpful and healing. I fully understand the cost implications particularly in this most austere of times. I would always assist people dealing with this level of trauma because it can be completely disabling and hampers ones quality of life. If ever you witness dark humour in the workplace don’t be too quick to judge as these people are in fact self supervising.

This is in effect a way to disperse the inevitability of feeling “stuck” or affected by the things we hear and advise on. Companies only appear to recognise the need for a structural or case management type of supervision when the real needs are the emotional baggage. So when this need is overlooked by a company the need within the individual is to “deal with it” so the bad taste jokes start and then the after hours drinking starts and then the difficulties with our colleagues start and everyone is thinking that the staff are behaving just like the clients that we are meant to be helping. Does this sound familiar? Mmmmm Church can often become this way.

I continue in my quest for the church to recognise their own weaknesses in order that they can be turned into strengths for this nation to reach its eternal goal for His glory.</p